


Cute as a Bunny

by Dionte



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Body Image, F/M, Girls' Night Out, Sebastian Does Not Care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 13:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6807382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Colette had never attended a sleepover with others her age. She had never played truth or dare, and had definitely never worn a bunny onesie, especially when the person she was crushing on decided to randomly walk in the room.</p>
<p>Really, she considered it impressive to accomplish all of it in one night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cute as a Bunny

**Author's Note:**

> I doodled what I thought the pajamas from my other story (Blame the Snow) would look like and ended up also doodling Colette wearing a bunny onesie. I then thought about why she would ever wear that, and thus this story happened. Yeah. All this while trying to work on a completely different fic altogether.

The hot springs were strangely revealing, Colette decided. Despite having never thought about it before- a perk, she supposed, of never considering your life growing into adulthood- she thought about her body. She inspected herself in the mirror, disappointed. She didn’t have Sheena’s curves, and the Professor was simply gorgeous. Presea was still a child, but carried herself like an adult. Herself, on the other hand… Colette frowned. Flat. Unappealing. At the very least, she wasn’t turning into a Cruxis Crystal anymore. She smiled at that thought before slipping back into her clothes. They were heading to Meltokio today, and she wanted to look forward to it.

 

Her mind slipped over to the beautiful Princess Hilda, and her grin faded.

 

If Zelos had grown up with his pick of women, why would he even consider her? He called her cute, but he didn’t flirt with her much. Maybe he preferred more graceful, elegant women? Colette shook her head. This was no time to think about such trivial matters. They were on a mission to save the world. A mission that apparently involved Lloyd fighting in the colosseum with the constant refrain of “I need to train more!”

 

… It was okay to take a break sometimes, right?

 

When she arrived at the lobby to the colosseum, all the men- sans Genis- as well as Presea had registered to compete. Sheena shook her head, glancing at the blonde Chosen.

 

“The boys got all up in arms about proving themselves strongest. Genis was disappointed because he isn’t a physical fighter, so I told Presea to volunteer for his position.”

 

Colette blinked. “Oh.”

 

Sheena sighed. “If I had known it’d turn out like this, I wouldn’t have gotten involved.”

 

Colette chuckled lightly. “Well, at least they’ll enjoy themselves. Who will you root for?”

 

The ninja blushed, looking away. “Lloyd, obviously. You too, right?”

 

“Heeey!” Zelos’s yell gathered their attention. “I’ll give you enough of a show to make you fall in love, so cheer for me, Colette~!”

 

“She can cheer for whoever she wants!” Sheena quipped, looking back to her friend.

 

“I would feel bad if Zelos didn’t have someone cheering for him, though.” Colette murmured, heat in her cheeks, as she gave Sheena a gentle smile.

 

The purple-clad ninja rose an eyebrow, scratching at her head. “You’re too nice Colette. You shouldn’t indulge him like that.”

 

Colette didn’t reply. She wouldn’t admit that she was going to cheer for Zelos anyway.

 

When they had seated themselves to watch, the Professor and Sheena entered into a deep conversation while Genis cheered himself hoarse for Presea. Colette cheered for everyone, but made sure to shout loudest for Zelos- though she wasn’t sure he could hear her over the roars of the other women in the crowd. During one of Presea’s bouts, she felt a tap on her shoulder as Sheena beckoned her over to join her conversation with Raine. Colette joined them curiously, wondering what could possibly have been so engaging before.

 

“Hey Colette, have you ever had a sleepover?”

 

Colette shook her head, completely bewildered.

 

Sheena dipped her head knowingly, not glancing at Raine, who appeared almost as confused as Colette.

 

“Okay, so neither have I, and neither has Raine. I’m betting Presea hasn’t either. I was thinking, we girls need to do more things together, just us. We had fun at the hot spring, right? E-even with Lloyd peeping.”

 

Colette hesitated. “Is that what you were talking about?”

 

Sheena nodded as Raine shook her head.

 

The professor gave the ninja an annoyed glance before resolving to explain. “I’m sorry Colette, we were actually talking about how much of our childhoods were shortened or taken away from us. We never had many friends out of necessity and thought it might be nice to have a sort of girls’ night. A chance to unwind and have fun, to relax before returning to our journey.”

 

Colette’s eyes widened in surprise.

 

The professor tenderly smiled at her. “I thought it might be especially nice for you, since you were never allowed to before with your duties as Chosen.”

 

The sentiment made her heart feel warm and full. “I think I’d like that.”

 

Sheena beamed and stood in excitement. “I’ll tell Presea then!”

 

As the ninja shot off, Colette looked at Raine. “Thanks, Professor.”

 

The professor slumped. “I’m glad you are looking forward to it Colette, but I have no idea what a sleepover entails.”

 

Colette giggled. “You’ll take part in it anyway, right?”

 

Raine sighed deeply, shaking her head. “Yes.”

 

Colette dragged her professor up to cheer for their friends, eventually joined by an enthusiastic Sheena, who had run off to make preparations for the night after Presea had accepted her invitation. The ninja then pulled an unimpressed Genis to the side, begging him to keep an eye on the other guys for the night.

 

“You realize they are probably just going to crash after all these matches tonight anyway, right?”

 

Sheena frowned. “You can never be too careful.”

 

Genis raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, fine. I’ll try.”

 

“That’s more like it.”

 

When the day was finally nearing it’s end, the group headed to Zelos’s mansion, Lloyd complaining at his loss.

 

“But how did Zelos of all of us-”

 

“We must take advantage of many tactics on the battlefield, Lloyd.” Regal deep voice lectured.

 

“I am sorry that I was unable to attain victory for you Genis.”

 

“O-oh. No, it’s fine Presea. I thought you did great!”

 

“Augh! I still can’t believe I lost!”

 

“I couldn’t lose with all my hunnies cheering for me!” Zelos cackled.

 

Colette smiled. “Congratulations, Zelos!”

 

The red-haired Chosen beamed back at her. “Thanks, my little angel! I couldn’t have done it without your cheers!”

 

Lloyd sputtered. “W-wha? You cheered for Zelos?”

 

Zelos crooked an eyebrow. “She cheered for everyone, bumpkin. You’re horrible to have not heard her hard work.”

 

“That is true. Thank you, Colette.” Regal gave her a shallow bow, and Presea nodded her thanks next to him.

 

“O-oh. No, it’s fine. I was just cheering.”

 

Lloyd grinned at her, cocking his head. “Nah, it was really nice of you. Thanks for cheering us on, Colette.”

 

She felt a little bit of heat rising to her cheeks.

 

Zelos smirked. “Not that you actually noticed, Bud.”

 

… And their fight began anew. After the men finally retreated to some of Zelos’s many rooms, the girls snuck into a larger room on the second floor.

 

“So, what do we do during a sleepover?” Colette questioned Sheena, who looked a little nervous.

 

“Well, we play games, and talk, or something like that?”

 

Presea cocked her head, nostalgia in her eyes. “As I recall… Alicia liked doing my hair as I told her stories. Perhaps Sheena and Raine could do Colette’s and my hair?”

 

Colette gazed at Presea in astonishment before quickly glancing at the others. It appeared that none of them remembered Presea having a little sister she spent many nights with.

 

Sheena cocked her head, looking at the supplies she had brought. After some times searching, she victoriously held forth ribbons and some other hair decorations.

 

“Let’s make it a contest, Raine!”

 

The professor smirked, smoothly sitting behind Colette. “I’ll accept that challenge. I hope you’re prepared to lose.”

 

Sheena gaped, kneeling nervously behind Presea. “I’m not sure how confident I feel now.”

 

“It’s alright Sheena. I am prepared for any outcome. We can think of something new to do after this contest.”

 

The ninja muttered something under her breath and grabbed a brush, Raine doing the same.

 

“So, Colette, how would you like your hair done?”

 

Colette hummed to herself, relaxing with the slight tug of brush bristles in her hair. “U-um. I don’t know. Something pretty, I guess?”

 

The professor’s brushing paused. “Pretty...? Hmm. That shouldn’t be too hard. You are already pretty.”

 

“... Am I?”

 

Silence fell in the room for a few awkward moments, until Presea spoke up.

 

“I think Colette is very pretty.”

 

Colette’s head snapped over to the other girl, despite Raine’s protests. Sheena nodded behind Presea as the Professor twisted Colette’s head back forward.

 

“Yeah, I agree with Presea. I can only wish I were more petite like you, Colette. It’s kind of a pain.”

 

“You are a lovely young woman. Pure aesthetic beauty isn't everything, since men will often try to take advantage of it. I have firsthand experience with that.” The Professor’s voice sounded oddly sorrowful. “I am glad that you grew up away from such influences.”

 

Colette’s heart felt heavy, because part of her wished she hadn’t. So she smiled instead, and thanked her friends.

 

Presea began to tell stories of some of the unique hairstyles her younger sister had given her, and before too long, Sheena talked about the children’s antics in Mizuho. The professor stood, and found a smaller mirror to show Colette her accomplishment. At first Colette thought it was a simple braid, but as she looked, she saw thin ribbons and smaller braids intertwined within.

 

She felt a smile growing on her face as she looked back at the professor. “It’s beautiful! Thank you Professor!”

 

Raine smirked, turning to Sheena. “How goes yours?”

 

Sheena proudly put her hands on her hips. “I just finished.” Presea’s twintails had changed to a large messy bun on the top of her head.

 

Presea checked it in the mirror, giving the ninja a small grin afterwards. “Yes, this looks quite nice. Thank you, Sheena.”

 

Raine nodded sagely. “I believe we have done well, Sheena.”

 

Sheena couldn’t hide her look of self-satisfaction as she returned to her pile of sleepover supplies. They began snacking on some sweets she nabbed as she attempted to recall the rules to some game called truth or dare. After explaining it to the best of her knowledge, Sheena pointed to Raine.

 

“Truth or dare?”

 

Raine barely reacted to the finger pointed at her face. “Truth.”

 

“Okay, I’ve been curious about this.” Sheena tilted her head. “Are you… You know? Have you…?”

 

The professor sighed in exasperation. “Needless to say, it was a long time ago, now. I was infatuated with a travelling scholar. I’d really rather not talk about it.”

 

The game continued, silly dares being thrown about, and interesting truths. Colette was careful when choosing truth. She would rather they didn’t find out about her crush on their resident flirt. So when Sheena gave her a large smirk before she chose dare, Colette felt a sudden rush of nervousness.

 

“So, I found this thing while I was out, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment.”

 

The ninja pulled out some pink pajamas. Colette looked at them in confusion, wondering why Sheena would have to pull them out for a dare, before realizing what they really were. Pink rabbit pajamas. Pink rabbit pajamas that were suddenly in her face.

 

“Try them on.”

 

Colette looked at Sheena blankly. “Wha-”

 

“You heard me. Wear them.”

 

“B-but...” She looked desperately to the Professor, who only shrugged.

 

“It’s the rules.”

 

Colette tried to frown at the pajamas, but she struggled to be angry with it. They really were _cute_ pajamas. So she quietly got up and snuck into the ensuite bathroom and changed out of her loose comfy nightwear into the new one. She was delighted to note that they were still loose and comfortable. It seemed that the bunny hood was also optional, so she strode back into the main room without lifting it over her head.

 

Sheena smiled at her when she arrived, and Raine failed to hide a small grin as well.

 

Presea had a miniscule frown as she stated, “Rabbit ears.”

 

Colette froze when Sheena rapidly leapt up, grabbing the hood and pulling it over the blonde’s head. The braid Professor Raine worked so hard on spilled out of the hood and Sheena arranged the ears carefully before backing up to examine her work.

 

She nodded. “Fits better than I thought it would.”

 

“R-really?”

 

Sheena beamed. “Yeah! You look adorable! Want to show Ll- the guys?”

 

Colette panicked. “No!”

 

The room froze at her outburst. Colette had even stunned herself with the immediate cry.

 

“Wha-bu- Colette? You look so cute! You don’t want any of the guys to see you like this?” Sheena exclaimed. Colette could tell she was implying Lloyd, and she wasn’t about to correct the ninja.

 

“No!”

 

Sheena deflated. “Fine. Guess it’ll be our secret.”

 

“My, my, how could you lovely ladies not invite me to the fun?”

 

That voice. Oh. _Oh no_.

 

Colette turned, and there, in the doorway, was Zelos. Of all people, it had to be him. She could feel her face growing red, and tears forming.

 

“No no, Colette! Peace! Like this.” Zelos grinned, putting up two fingers.

 

Confused, Colette weakly rose two fingers. Zelos nodded encouragingly, and Colette felt her lips quirk up in a strange smile.

 

Zelos’s face suddenly became blank, and she felt her arm jerked forward as he grabbed her, lifting her bodily from the ground.

 

He smirked at his audience, proudly. “I’m stealing this one, so catch you all later, my darling hunnies~!” Colette was sure her face was crimson as Zelos suddenly kicked open the door and ran.

 

“Zelos, you perv-!” There was a loud banging sound as the ninja and Professor Raine collided in their enthusiasm to rescue Colette from the treacherous Chosen.

 

Colette looked at Zelos in alarm, but he only winked and continued running as Sheena and Raine entered the hall in pursuit. Their faces… If Zelos got caught, they were going to kill him.

 

“Master Zelos.” Sebastian stood by the entrance, looking oddly at peace despite the current state of affairs.

 

Zelos leapt to the first floor, only exclaiming, “Door!”

 

Sebastian immediately opened the door, and the two Chosens were through in an instant, the butler merely responding, “Have a good night, Master Zelos.”

 

“Yeah, now close it!”

 

The door closing muffled the sounds of the Professor and Sheena’s protests. Zelos took no chances and continued running, sprinting past the church and leaping off the side of the noble’s quarters with no hesitation. When he finally stopped, they were in a small park below one of the walkways. He looked around for any signs of the others, putting Colette down when he determined the area to be safe. Zelos then promptly collapsed on a bench.

 

“Pheeew. That was some unexpected late night exercise.”

 

Colette watched him in bewilderment as he ran his hand through curls of red hair, breathing deeply. She cautiously sat on the bench beside him, glancing at his profile in the moonlight.

 

Her heart was racing.

 

“Z-Zelos?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“W-why did you steal me?”

 

His gaze met hers calmly, but took some time before replying. “You looked like you were about to cry.”

 

Colette’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She couldn’t tell him that was because he saw her dressed- Colette suddenly froze, looking down at the pajamas.

 

She was about to begin panicking when he spoke up again. “There. Just like that.” Zelos sat a little straighter, cocking his head curiously towards the blonde. “Why are you freaking out over some cute pajamas?”

 

Colette lifted her knees onto the bench, hugging them tightly. “I- uh. I just...” She felt her voice shrink to a whisper. “I didn’t want you to see me.”

 

Zelos was shocked into silence.

 

They sat on that bench until the red-haired Chosen processed her statement.

 

“Why wouldn’t you want _me_ to see you?”

 

Colette attempted to make herself smaller. “I… I don’t want you to think I’m cute. I want you to think I’m pretty, like Princess Hilda, or Sheena. O-or even elegant and mature, like the Professor. But instead-” Colette uncurled, holding out her arms and gripping tightly to the cuffs of the pajamas. “-instead I’m like this.”

 

Zelos’s cyan eyes met hers. “So what?”

 

Colette blinked in surprise. “H-huh..?”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with you. So you’re cute. There isn’t anything bad about being cute.”

 

“B-but-”

 

Zelos shook his head. “No. I mean it, Colette. If you’re worried about being desirable or something like that...” He moved, lithe and powerful, arms suddenly caging her on the base of the bench. “I can assure you that you are.”

 

Colette could only stare at him above her, soaked in moonlight. Her heart was pounding.

 

His red curls cascaded around her, and he leaned down, mouth beside her ear. “Sometimes, I think you’re so adorable that I just want to eat you up.” He purred, and she was scared. She was terrified, and to her horror, it felt _good_.

 

Zelos backed off to observe the effect of his words. Their eyes met, and he began to lean down again-

 

“You stupid Chosen, I swear if you so much as _touch_ Colette you will regret it!”

 

Sheena’s voice came from above them, but it sounded as though she hadn’t noticed the two Chosen below. Zelos looked very clearly annoyed. Colette felt disappointed. He returned his focus to the blonde contemplatively, suddenly leaning down and pressing his lips to hers for a split second before leaping off the bench.

 

The disappointment bloomed into heat and Colette couldn’t think. Her lips felt warm, then numb, and her body tingled all over from losing the nearby warmth of Zelos.

 

Zelos said something, and she vacantly nodded.

 

“Oi, oi! You there, my cute angel?”

 

Colette jumped at the sudden proximity of Zelos’s face.

 

He backed away, a large smirk on his face. “I’m that good, huh?”

 

Colette blushed, attempting to open her mouth to protest, but unable to speak.

 

Zelos’s grin only grew.

 

When they finally got back, Sheena smacked him and Raine lectured him for an hour. They didn’t notice Colette’s dazed smile.


End file.
